The Four Noble Truths 

The central conception of  Buddha teachings  is 'The Four Noble Truths', realized by The Buddha , while seated in contemplation under the Bodhi tree at Gaya. These were made known by him to his erstwhile companions, the five ascetics , when he gave his first sermon at the deer park at Isipatana (modern Sarnath) near Varanasi. The whole of his first sermon is devoted to the formulations of these Truths;  for they are the essence of the Buddha’s teachings.

They are :

1. Dukkha , suffering,

2. Samudaya, the arising of suffering,

3. Nirodha , the cessation of suffering,

4. Magga, the path leading to cessation of suffering.

The Buddha’s method of exposition of the Four Truths is comparable to that of a physician or a Doctor. As a physician, he first diagnosed the illness, next he discovered the cause or arising of the illness, then considered its removal and lastly applied the remedy.

Dukkha (suffering) is the illness; craving(tanha) is the arising or the root cause of the illness(samudaya) ; through the removal of craving, the illness is removed and that is the cure ( nirodha=nibbana)  The Eightfold Path (magga) is the remedy.

 A sick man should become aware of his ailment, he should take notice of it, lest it becomes acute, he should then think of a way of removing its cause; with this end in view he goes to a physician, who diagnoses and prescribes a remedy. Through the efficacy of the remedy the patient gets rid of the ailment and that is the cure. Thus dukkha (suffering) is not to be ignored, but to be known, for it is the dire disease.  Craving,  the cause, is to be removed, to be abandoned ; the Eightfold Path is to be practiced, to be cultivated; for it is the remedy. With the knowledge of suffering, with removal of craving, through the practice of the Path, Nibbana’s realization is ensured. It is the cure, the complete detachment, the release from craving.  The entire teaching of the Buddha is nothing else than the understanding and the application of the Four Noble Truths. He said that , they are useful, are essential to the life of purity, they lead you from disgust to dispassion, tranquility, to full understanding, to enlightenment, to Nibbana.

(to be contd)

(Excerpts from The Buddha's Ancient Path by Thera Piyadasi)